The car's accessories cost a bomb, customers find out to their shock
The car's accessories cost a bomb, customers find out to their shock The first batch of Tata Nanos have arrived at Bangalore showrooms, and MiD DAY has found out that the car's accessories cost as much as the car itself.
Customers will have to cough up an extra lakh if they want to drive away in a fully loaded Nano, going by accessory prices available in showrooms. New accessories, in addition to existing Nano merchandise, make the Nano a costly ride, say experts.
"A fully loaded Nano will be much more costlier than what has been said," said MR Indresh, an auto consultant.
"Selling accessories helps the company make up the loss incurred on producing and delivering the car at such a low price," he added.
Merchandise mania
Nano accessories now being added to the list of Nano merchandise available in Bangalore Tata dealers' outlets are hardly priced to go with the car.
Tata dealers including Prerana motors, who delivered the first bunch of cars in Bangalore on Monday, are awaiting orders for their range of Nano accessories.
These consist of a bluetooth enabled MP3 player, alloy wheels, body kit, parking aid, sensor operated security system, decals, seat covers, and car graphics, apart from some twenty items of Nano branded merchandise including Nano caps, T shirts, pen drives, water cans, perfumes, magnets and mouse pads.
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Deck out: The Nano's extras cost a fortune |
Cost factor
The price list varies from Rs 8,790 for the blue tooth enabled clarion music system to decals of various types that range from Rs 280 to Rs 1,307. The total cost of the fully loaded version, including other aspects like power windows, will cross the Rs 1 lakh mark in the days ahead.
The car is tagged at Rs 1 lakh only to attract customers, and also because it is not fully equipped, say experts.
"The basic model which costs Rs 1 lakh doesn't come with any accessories. And suchu00a0 accessories which are necessary are sold separately with as much as a 30 per cent profit to the company," added Indresh.
"The price tag of Rs 1 lakh, besides attracting customers, will also make them purchase these accessories.
However, most customers who received the cars, are not interested in accessories as they were in the car itself.u00a0 "We have hardly received any orders for accessories yet," said Uday Kumar, Prerana Motors. "But we are hopeful the sales will improve in the days ahead."
